The Sixth Age of Middle Earth: Part Two
by MairaElleth
Summary: Tára. The Bringer of Light. The Valar's Chosen. The Messenger of the Valar. The Bearer of the Black Blood. Betrayer of the Men of the West. The Servant of Sauron. Many years have passed since Tára was cast into Ancient Middle Earth; what awaits her when she returns to the Sixth Age?


_I am known as Saerdartha. In the language of the children of men, my name tells the state of my many years; a bitter wait._

_Age upon age has passed and I have grown weary of this earth. The Valar have granted me long life, though it ever moves to become a curse rather than a blessing. I have lived many years in the company of men, helping to train their younglings. I have taught many lords and kings, though as the ages passed, I forsook my teaching, for the children of men have forgotten my people and the golden ages of the earth. _

_For a time, I wandered, with no path or heading to be had. I spent many years under the fading boughs of my people's great realms, unable to fade into my waking dreams, wishing to lose touch with the world outside their borders. But those days are a tale for another time._

_In my many years of waiting, I have seen many things and done great deeds with men of renown. But one by one, those closest to me surrendered to the sleep of death or sailed across the sea to greater bliss. I have watched them all go with a stinging bitterness that is not easily assuaged. The only thing, keeping me to this earth is Her. _

_She has changed the fate of the world. She has written her name in the pages of history. She has branded her name in the annals of kings. But She is also in grave danger, for the enemy did not die, as we all hoped. He has only waited. _

_Since, the day She was taken back, I have striven with the greatest of our scholars to find what Her appearance in our age truly meant. But in the peace following His defeat, the scholars found little merit in studying the enemy, for their hearts were merry with the renewal of life. I did not fault them this, for I too, enjoyed the peace that follows a long battle, though it was bittersweet. _

_As the ages crept by, I have sensed a shadow growing. Its tendrils have crept into the hearts of many men, leading them down a dark path from which few return. I did not think it possible, for He was defeated with the destruction of his Ring. Though I have learned in my long years, that in time, things are never what they seem. _

_I returned to the White City when Her parents wed, and I kept watch, waiting for that fateful day. On the day of her birth, I watched in the shadows as her father wept over his wife's still body. I watched as he cared for a babe that only knew her mother's love from her time in the womb. I watched and waited; waited for the day that I knew was coming. And in that wait, my love for her rekindled._

_In the long years of my wait, my unexplainable love for Her dulled into an ache that I pushed away, deep into my soul. But as I watched her grow, I saw the spark in her that had attracted me so long ago, and I finally understood. I finally saw her for who she was, underneath, not who she had been. Though she had been through much when I first met her, she had not yet lost that fiery spark, that zeal for truth. In her young self, I saw it once again, and hope in me rekindled. She would not be lost forever. _

_It was not until She was taken from this age, the sixth age of Middle Earth, and thrown into the past, that I have finally seen what is to come. Corrupt men have risen to power, and during my years of self-imposed exile, I have let evil grow where it should not. The kingly line, the last remnant of Isildur's blood, is almost spent. In my laxity, I have not seen how the line of Stewards has been corrupted. A great evil stems from that line that I cannot discern. But now, as She returns to this age, I have once again rued the day I left this city. The enemy has Her, and the remnant of Her family. It was my one task to be Her protector; I pray the Valar will give me one more chance. _

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A/N: I know that this is only a tiny tidbit of story but I felt I have left my readers for too long. I needed to clear my head and reevaluate my storyline, my writing, my love for these characters. I cannot lie and say that writing this second part of my story makes me want to weep... you all will understand in time. Thank you all for being patient and for your continued love!


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